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WWE has changed over the custom side plates on the Raw Universal championship following Goldberg's victory over Kevin Owens in just 30 seconds in the main event of the Fastlane pay-per-view last night at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
If you watch wrestling for any significant amount of time, you'll undoubtedly notice that many of the
same storylines get recycled over and over.
But you'll also encounter moments where the script writers (or the wrestlers themselves) went and did
something completely unexpected, resulting in a surprising match you'll never forget.
Here are six of those most unexpected WWE wins ever.
Cesaro Rules The Royale
WrestleMania 30 was one full of surprises. While the biggest shock will forever be remembered as
one of the great upsets in WWE history (see below on our list), a match earlier in the night also
delivered a stunning surprise. The fourth match on the PPV's card that night was a 31-man battle
royal for the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Trophy.
Cesaro was the unlikely winner of the first ever battle royale Andre the Giant Memorial Trophy
Given the fantastic heights that the WWE (and the media) had built up the Undertaker'sWrestleMania
dominance to be, many expected a legend like him to win the event. Instead, it was Cesaro that
unexpectedly won, slamming the Big Show over the top rope in a similar fashion to Hulk Hogan's
iconic body slam of Andre at WrestleMania III.
Mankind Wins His First WWE Title
One YouTube clip has dubbed the end of this match as 'most awesome 30 seconds in WWF' , and
it's hard to argue otherwise. Back when The Rock was still something of a heel, he faced off against
Mankind in a no disqualification match for the WWF Championship on Monday Night RAW .
Mankind won his first WWF title in an electrifying no-DQ match against The Rock
With various superstars watching ringside, Mankind seemingly had the Most Electrifying Man In
Sports Entertainment at the mercy of the Mandible Claw and Mr. Socko. But bedlam broke loose
when Ken Shamrock came to The Rock'ss aid by smashing Mankind with a chair, causing Billy Gunn
and other members of DX and The Corporation to join the fray. One of the loudest crowd pops in
wrestling history then occurred, initiated by none other than Stone Cold's entrance music. Austin
raced into the ring, smashed a disoriented Rock with a chair and then dragged Mankind on top, giving
him the pin and his first ever WWF Championship.
Goldberg Annihilates Lesnar
After months of speculation, Goldberg was officially slated to make his return to WWE after a 12-year
hiatus. His re-debut would come against Brock Lesnar, whom he had been feuding with on Twitter, as
the headlining match at the 2016 Survivor Series.
Lesnar had ended the federation's greatest streak ever (see below) and hadn't lost since, the WWE
seemingly trying to make him the federation's next unstoppable force. It also wasn't even certain that
the aging Goldberg would continue to wrestle after the PPV. So color us surprised when Goldberg
landed two successful spears on Lesnar and defeated him by pinfall in less than 90 seconds.
Team Hell No Feuds Yet Retains Their Title
If you've followed the WWE long enough, usually you can get a good sense on where most storylines
are going. But occasionally the writers keep fans on their toes by throwing fans for an unexpected
loop. Such was the case at the 2013 Royal Rumble, where the Rhodes Scholars were challenging
Kane and Daniel Bryan (Team Hell No) for the Tag Team Championship.
Bryan and Kane were scheduled to face off against each other in just a few weeks at WrestleMania,
leading nearly everyone (including the many online sportsbooks and betting sites like 888 that take
WWE bets and had them listed as huge +600 underdogs) to believe that they would lose as a way to
further their animosity toward each other. Despite a last-ditch interference attempt from Cody Rhodes,
the mismatched team were able to work surprisingly well together and defend their title.
Brock Busts The Streak
Nobody put it past the WWE to end the Undertaker's famous WrestleMania undefeated streak at
some point, perhaps as a way to send the Dead Man out to retirement. But what nobody really
expected was for Brock Lesnar of all people to be the one to end the run.
Few could believe (or accept) that Brock Lesnar was the man to end the Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak
During a 25-minute long WrestleMania 30 match in which 'Taker suffered a legitimate concussion,
Lesnar was able to counter a tombstone piledriver into his F5 finisher and pin the big man to the
shock and dismay of nearly everyone in attendance.
The Montreal Screwjob
The most unexpected finish in WWF/E is also what one wrestling writer calls the 'most talked about
match in the history of professional wrestling' The year was 1997, and Bret Hart was defending his
WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series. Hart was leaving the federation to
join the WCW in a few months, but because the event was taking place in Hart's native Canada it was
agreed he would successfully defend his title then lose or forfeit it later on.
But Vince McMahon had other plans, and at some point on the night of the match he told ref Earl
Hebner to go off the script and call the match in favor of Michaels. When HBK had Hart in his famous
sharpshooter, McMahon could be heard yelling at the timekeeper to 'ring the ****ing bell!', despite
Hart not tapping out. To the confusion of the wrestlers, Hebner, and pretty much everyone else, that's
exactly what happened. The incident caused a stunned Hart to spit in McMahon's face, destroy the
ringside announcer table and helped bring in the WWF's famed Attitude Era.
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